“An objective of 50% renewable power by 2030 is ambitious,” says Bill Boyd minister responsible for SaskPower,“but I’m confident SaskPower can meet the target by taking an ‘all of the above’ approach to planning.” Thismeans a major expansion of wind power augmented by other renewables, such as solar, biomass, geothermal and hydro, more natural gas generation, and the Boundary Dam 3 carbon capture project.

About 25% of Saskatchewan’s generation capacity now comes from renewable sources: 20% from hydro and 5% or 220 megawatts (MW) from wind. Three new wind power projects already approved or in development will add another 207 MW of renewable generation by 2020.

SaskPower is also planning to move forward with utility scale solar power generation, which would include at least 60 MW of solar, with a competitive procurement process beginning in 2016. To expand the number of customers generating solar power, the corporation is also reviewing its Net Metering program, which offers customers generating up to 100 kilowatts of renewable energy technology the opportunity to get credit for the unused portion of their excess electricity.Elsewhere, SaskPower has invested in geothermal technology pre-feasibility studies to evaluate its potential. The corporation is optimistic that it can be a part of our diversified energy future, and will continue to work with the industry to determine how the technology could work.

To meet the target of up to 50% of SaskPower’s generation capacity from renewable sources, the corporation will be moving forward with procurement of another 100 MW of wind generation in 2016 and will develop up to 1,600 MW of new wind generation between 2019 and 2030.

“SaskPower’s new wind energy targets represent an important step forward for wind energy in Saskatchewan and will enable the province to capture more of its plentiful and cost-effective wind energy resources,” says Robert Hornung, President of the Canadian Wind Energy Association (CanWEA). “An initial procurement of 100 MW of new wind energy in 2016, followed by a series of planned future procurements for additional wind energy, will attract significant interest and ensure a highly competitive process that will produce low cost clean electricity generation for Saskatchewan ratepayers.”